Now, I have no idea about these water slides people talk about whether or not they pop. My horn has one main tuning slide, 1 Bb tuning slide, and 2 slides that work for the F side of the horn. Whether or not one is supposed to be a water slide I was never told. I have noticed that one seems to be the main slide for the F side of the horn and the other F slide seems to be for "fine tuning". I don't think it is just a water slide because if it is in all the way the F side is way out of tune. -----------------
Dawn, I'll assume from your description you have a Holton horn. Just to clarify, this is the slide (on Farkas horns with the little Holton emblem on it) closest to the independent Bb tuning slide. This is exactly the slide referred to as a water slide. Most Kruspe wrap horns-this includes the Conn 8d and Holton Farkas and Merker models-have this slide. If you are using this slide to tune the f side of the horn then something is wrong with your setup. It is not a fine tune adjustment and lots of times will negatively affect the harmonic series if it is pulled out-especially if pulled all the way out ;-) This auxiliary F slide will only pop if the thumb valve is actuated and if the thumb valve is tight. Also your right hand position sounds a little dodgy to me. Improper right hand position will more adversely affect the overtone series than any of the myriad standard issue mouthpieces out there. Check out the Osmun website for the Merewether article on right hand position or review the section in the Farkas book. The Alexander 103 model does not have this slide at all. The Alexander 103 has the shared main tuning slide at the end of the lead pipe. It has an independent F horn slide just to the right of that. Turning the horn over, it has an independent Bb slide just off of the thumb valve and of course it has the six slides for the other three valves. Professor Pizka has already stated some good general starting points for these slides. I would also say that the newer Alexander 103 horns are more consistent than some vintage versions with regards to tuning and evenness of scale. The Jack Attack! _______________________________________________ post: horn@music.memphis.edu unsubscribe or set options at http://music2.memphis.edu/mailman/options/horn/archive%40jab.org
